It was no surprise when Mercedes set the pace in Monaco today, but all the signs are that Red Bull and Ferrari are a lot closer at a track where the power unit is less critical.

In FP1 Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were just 0.032s apart, although a disjointed FP2 meant that the times were not representative, with Hamilton half a second off Fernando Alonso, and Rosberg was only 20th.

Valentino Rossi, who has won nine MotoGP titles since his debut in the 125 class in 1996, speaks during the press conference after the MotoGP race in Le Mans, France. (Photo: Mirco Lazzari/Getty Images)

Valentino Rossi, who will be making his 300th start in his home race at Mugello next weekend, has joked that he wishes he had met Marc Marquez earlier in his career, having witnessed the fantastic form of the current MotoGP™ World Champion.

The seven-time premier class title winner again finished second to the Spaniard in the fifth round of the World Championship at Le Mans in France last Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton has the fastest time of the weekend so far at a 1:18.271 (Photo: Getty images)

MONACO (AP) — Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso posted the fastest time in the rain-disrupted second practice session at the Monaco Grand Prix on Thursday, with Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton second. Yet Hamilton’s FP1 time remained the fastest time of the day.